Data Protection Notice
Your data
Please read sections I, II and III below. Your consent to section I is necessary to enable your application to be considered. Section II sets out for your information the purposes for which your data will be used if you become a Mason, and does not require your consent. You may choose whether or not to provide your consent to section III, which relates only to Masonic charities.
I. Mandatory consent –
Registration form and Web Contact forms
As a candidate to become a Mason, you consent to the processing, retention and sharing of your personal data submitted on or with your application, including details of any criminal convictions, for the purpose of assessing your membership application and any other Masonic applications you may make.
You can withdraw your consent and request erasure of your data at any time prior to your initiation by notifying your proposer and seconder that you wish to cancel your application.
II. No consent required – Use of your data after you become a Mason if your application is successful, your data will be processed, retained and shared for any reasonable purposes required by the Book of Constitutions, the Royal Arch Regulations or the bodies they sanction from time to time. These purposes include, but are not limited to, the following purposes:
1. Assessing any other Masonic applications you make;
2. Registering you as a member of Freemasonry;
3. Receiving communications to which you are entitled as a Mason;
4. Recording the progress of your career in Freemasonry;
5. Masonic disciplinary processes;
6. If you resign or are expelled from membership, maintaining records to prevent you from improperly re-applying for membership; and
7. Maintaining records of your career in Freemasonry for archive and historical purposes.
You may stop your data from being used for all purposes except 6. and 7. above by resigning from the United Grand Lodge of England and, if applicable, the Supreme Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of England using the processes prescribed by their respective constitutions. If you resign or are expelled, personal data relating to your membership will normally be retained and processed by the United Grand Lodge of England for 100 years for purpose 6. and indefinitely for purpose 7. If you wish to object to the processing of your data for purposes 6. or 7. then please contact dataprotection@ugle.org.uk. You may request access to the data held about you by each Masonic entity, and rectification of that data if applicable, by submitting a request to the relevant Masonic entity. The Secretary of the Lodge which you are applying to join will provide on request details of your data controllers and their contact details. The United Grand Lodge of England is at Freemasons’ Hall, 60 Great Queen Street, London WC2B 5AZ. Its data protection officer can be contacted at dataprotection@ugle.org.uk.
The legal bases on which your personal data will be used in accordance with this Section II are:
a. the legitimate interests of Masonic entities as not for profit membership organisations; and
b. the fulfilment of contractual obligations owed to you by your Lodge or Chapter supported by its affiliated Masonic entities.
“Masonic entities” includes the Lodge which you are applying to join, any other Lodges or Chapters you join or have joined, their Metropolitan, Provincial or District Grand Lodges and Chapters and the United Grand Lodge of England and, if applicable, the Supreme Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of England. Each applicable Masonic entity will be a data controller. “Book of Constitutions” means the General Laws and Regulations for the Government of the Craft of the United Grand Lodge of England from time to time. “Royal Arch Regulations” means the General Regulations of the Supreme Grand Chapter of England from time to time.
III. Optional consent – Masonic charities Whether or not you choose to provide the optional consents described in this section has no bearing on your application for membership. Masonic charities provide, among other work, support to Masons, former Masons and their relatives. Please tick the boxes on the registration form if you would like The United Grand Lodge of England to be able to share your personal data with recognised Masonic charities so that they can process it: a. on receipt of an application for relief, to determine whether you or your relatives are eligible beneficiaries; and b. to enable Masonic charities to contact you with fundraising materials. You may withdraw these optional consents at any time by emailing dataprotection@ugle.org.uk.
* When you choose to provide your name and residential address to a Masonic charity then Masonic entities (as defined above) may also permit that charity to keep that data accurate and up to date by verifying it against your name and address data that Masonic entities hold. The legal basis for this processing is the legitimate interests of that charity.